Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Thanks to Joyce Valenza Ph.D and the Never Ending Search Blog, I was reminded about Academic Earth. Just like she states, "Time again to celebrate the generous world of open source in education!"

Professor Diamond begins this lecture with her famous discussion of the human brain.

This is a MUST SEE for everyone! (The 1st four minutes have a great message)

Currently in Beta, the site, in the true spirit of the open source movement, was founded to give everyone on earth access to a world class education. More about Academic Earth's noble mission:

We are building a user-friendly educational ecosystem that will give internet users around the world the ability to easily find, interact with, and learn from full video courses and lectures from the world’s leading scholars. Our goal is to bring the best content together in one place and create an environment that in which that content is remarkably easy to use and in which user contributions make existing content increasingly valuable.

Users can create lists of favorites. Videos are sharable, emailable, embeddable. Some are downloadable for the iPod. All are rated by viewers. For researchers, full citation information pops up instantly.

Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Education chiefs have slammed a Facebook webpage that offers a "charter for cheats" by encouraging schoolchildren to swap their homework answers.

"Let's Cram" is a Facebook application that claims to help children study online and has just raised a massive $285,000.00 of funding in America to expand the site. But the UK Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) and a teachers union reckon the site lets students complete coursework without learning anything.

Users are encouraged to create "study groups" for each subject and links can be posted to other websites that contain homework answers. The application also lets students know which of their friends are logged on at the same time so study notes and online chat can be exchanged.

Created by Santa Barbara-based computer expert Michael Lewis, the site is spreading like wildfire among UK Facebook users. Claiming the site is designed to "relieve stress" and help students with homework, Lewis reckons the application is a natural way to study in a social network. Michael said: "I wanted to make a place where students could go when they needed to get school stuff done, so I made the site. It's the social way to study."

"Let's Cram" is a place where you can go to post and answer homework questions, study with other students for upcoming tests, or just meet and hang out with other kids that are going through the same things that you are." I really think this could help make school less stressful for students everywhere."

One example on how the site works was a young female posted a problem asking "Can someone help me find all the zeros of this function: F(x) = x^3-27." Within 20 minutes someone had replied with the answer and complete notes on how to write down the mathematic working-out. Education chiefs have slammed the idea as dangerous, as children using the application get questions answered for them, resulting in them not learning anything.

A spokesman for the DCSF said: "We obviously discourage any pupil from cheating and would advise them to be very cautious if using the website." We would also remind students that they could fail their exams if caught cheating." A spokesman for Ofqual said: "All work submitted by a student as coursework must be completely their own work."

There are clear and serious penalties for those who plagiarise, copy or collude with anyone else so we would strongly advice pupils not to use any websites that promote this." If any student is found to have cheated they can be disqualified from their exam and will lose their grade in that subject. "We have provided teachers, learners and parents with further information on the rules of coursework and how to authenticate a student's coursework."

General Secretary for teachers union Voice, Philip Parkin, says the website is open to abuse and could restrict learning. Mr Parkin said: "Sharing knowledge and ideas is what education is all about. However, we cannot condone students copying work from other students into which they’ve had no input."

Students need to realise that copying the work of others is not adding to their own skills, abilities or knowledge." Teachers may well find them out if several students all use the same words and phrases, give exactly the same answers or start writing in a different style."

I found this article in a Liverpool, England newspaper and I thought it was interesting that "Lets Cram" could find the venture capital at this point in time. Are any of you familiar with this application? J.T.

Thursday, February 19, 2009

Multiple-choice questions (MCQ’s) play an important role in testing and are among the most widely used of selection-type items on examinations today. The popularity of the MCQ stems from the fact that they can be designed to measure a variety of learning outcomes.

It takes a great deal of time, skill, and adherence to a set of well-recognized rules for item construction to develop a good MCQ item.

The Nature of the Multiple-Choice Question (MCQ)

Multiple-choice questions consist of a stem, options (distractors), and a key.

1. Stem– a question or an incomplete statement, which presents the problem. The stem of a MCQ may be presented either as a question or as an incomplete statement. The choice of form makes no difference in the overall effectiveness of the stem, as long as the writer presents a clear and specific problem. An example of the two different types of stem are found below:

Sample MCQ Stem Written as a Question:

Which of the basic food groups is richest in calcium?A. Breads and grains* B. Dairy productsC. Fruits and vegetablesD. Meat and poultry

2. Options (distractors) - the answer choices or options, referred to as distractors, given to provide possible solutions to the problem. They function to distract those individuals who are uncertain of the answer. Typically, there are four options, that consist of:

a. One correct answer (the key), and,b. Three distractors.

3. Key - the correct or best answer. The key is typically noted with an *.

Rules for Writing Multiple Choice Questions

The goal of the multiple-choice (MCQ) item format is to present students with a task that is both important and clearly understood, and that can be answered correctly by anyone who has achieved the intended learning outcome. There should be nothing in the content or structure of the item that would prevent an informed student from responding correctly. Similarly, nothing in the content or structure of the item should enable an uninformed student to select the correct answer. The following rules for item writing are intended to guide the item developer to design MCQs that function as intended. The rules are divided into two categories: (1) rules for developing the stem and (2) rules for developing the options.

The Stem

1. Present a single, clearly formulated problem in the stem of the item.

The stem should contain only information that is pertinent to the question or problem and should be worded so that the examinee can understand it without reading the options.

Poor: The cell islets of the pancreas:A. are located around the edge of the pancreas.B. contain ducts.C. disappear as one grows older.* D. produce insulin.

The first example is merely a collection of true-false statements with a common stem. However, the stem in the second example presents a single problem. A good test to check the clarity and completeness of a multiple-choice stem is to cover the alternatives and determine whether it could be answered without the choices.

2. State the stem of the item in simple, clear language.

The problem in the stem of a MCQ should be stated clearly, using straightforward vocabulary and should be free of unnecessary complex wording and sentence structure.

Poor: Cells of one kind belong to a particular group performing a specialized duty. We call this group of cells a tissue. All of us have different kinds of tissues in our bodies. Which of the following would be classified as epithelial tissue?A. adenoids and tonsilsB. cartilage* C. mucous membranesD. tendons

Better: Which of the following would be classified as epithelial tissue?A. adenoids and tonsilsB. cartilage* C. mucous membranesD. tendons

The stem in the first example contains unnecessary material which increases the amount of reading needed for an item, making it more difficult for the examinee to distinguish between relevant and irrelevant material.

3. Put as much of the wording as possible in the stem of the item.

The stem should include as much of the item as possible. If the same words or phrases are repeated in all or most of the options, rewrite the stem to include the repetitious material. Note the following examples:

Poor: In objective testing, the term objective:A. refers to the method of identifying the learning outcomes.B. refers to the method of presenting the problem.C. refers to the method of selecting the test content* D. refers to the method of scoring the answers.

Better: In objective testing, the term objective refers to the method of:A. identifying the learning outcomesB. presenting the problemC. selecting the test content* D. scoring the answers.

4. State the stem of the item in positive form, wherever possible.

Avoid using negatives such as NO, NOT, and EXCEPT. If you must use a negative word, write it in capital letters and underline it so that the test-taker will not miss it.

Poor: Which of the following structures of the ear is NOT concerned with hearing?A. cochleaB. eardrumC. oval window* D. semicircular canals

Better: Which one of the following structures of the ear helps to maintain balance?A. cochleaB. eardrumC. oval window* D. semicircular canals

Poor: Which one of the following is not a desirable practice when preparing multiple- choice items?* A. Shortening the stem by lengthening the alternatives.B. Stating the stem in positive form.C. Underlining certain words in the stem for emphasis.D. Using a stem that could function as a short-answer item.

Better: All of the following are desirable practices when preparing multiple-choice items EXCEPT:* A. shortening the stem by lengthening the alternatives.B. Stating the item in positive form.C. underlining certain words in the stem for emphasis.D. using a stem that could function as a short-answer item.

Please note that when negative wording is used in the stem of an item, not only should it be emphasized by placing it in capital letters and underlining it, but also placed near the end of the statement.

5. Make certain that the intended answer is correct or clearly best.

When the correct-answer form of a MCQ item is used, there should be only one unquestionably correct answer. With the best-answer form, the intended answer should be one that content experts would agree is clearly the best.

Poor: Which of the following types of cattle is a dairy breed?A. Angus* B. GuernseyC. Hereford* D. Holstein

Better: Which of the following types of cattle is a dairy breed?A. AngusB. BrahmanC. Hereford* D. Holstein

In the first example, both B and D are correct answers. They both are dairy breeds of cattle. In the second example, the only correct answer is D. All the other options are breeds of meat cattle.

The Options

1. Make all options grammatically consistent with the stem of the item and parallel inform.

Be sure to check the options against the wording in the stem to make sure they are grammatically consistent. This will help to avoid easy elimination of options.

In first example, a coal-tars is not grammatically correct when the stem and the option is read as a complete sentence.

2. Avoid giving clues in the correct answer by providing common verbal associations to words that are in the stem.

Poor: What is the best way to locate a lawyer for assistance?* A. Contact a lawyer referral service.B. Contact a police officer.C. Look for an ad in the newspaper.D. Wait until you go to jail.

Better: What is the best way to locate a lawyer for assistance?A. Ask a police officer.B. Call a bail bonding agency.* C. Contact a legal referral service.D. Look for an ad in the phone book.

Note that in the first example, the word lawyer is in both the stem and the correct answer.

3. Be sure that the wrong answers are plausible.

The distractors must be attractive to examinees who are lacking in knowledge about the material the item is intended to assess. Therefore, the incorrect answer choices should be logically consistent with the stem and should represent common errors made by students at a particular ability level.

4. Vary the relative length of the correct answer to eliminate length as a clue.

All options should be of approximately the same length. Avoid any tendency to make the correct answer consistently longer or shorter than the distractors.

Poor: One advantage of multiple-choice items over essay questions is that they:A. depend more on recall.B. measure more complex outcomes.* C. provide for a more extensive sampling of course content.D. require less time to score.

Better: One advantage of multiple-choice items over essay questions is that they:A. place greater emphasis on the recall of factual information.* B. provide for a more extensive sampling of course content.C. provide for the measurement of more complex learning outcomes.D. require less time for test preparation and scoring.

5. Use the option "none of the above " only when the keyed answer can be classified unequivocally as correct or incorrect.

The "none of the above" option works better when the stem is stated as a question rather than a sentence to be completed. An incomplete sentence rarely works because "none of the above" seldom completes the stem grammatically. Nevertheless, the use of the "none of the above" option should be avoided.

6. Avoid the use of "all of the above ".

The "all of the above" option makes it possible to answer the item on the basis of partial information. Since the examinee is to select only one answer, they can detect "all of the above" as the correct choice simply by noting that two of the alternatives are correct. They can also detect it as a wrong answer by recognizing that at least one of the alternatives is incorrect, thus enhancing their chance of guessing the correct answer from the remaining choices.

Poor: Which of the following factors must be considered in computing basal energy requirements?A. ageB. heightC. weight*D. all of the above

Better: Which of the following factors must be considered in computing basal energy requirements:A. age onlyB. weight onlyC. height and weight only*D. age, height, and weight

To ensure that the placement of the correct answer, or key, does not follow a pattern that may be apparent to the examinee, the options should be listed in alphabetical order. If the options are numerical, then the options should be listed in ascending order.

Poor: A communication system for the blind that includes raised dots that are arranged to represent letters of the alphabet is called:* A. BrailleB. Sign languageC. Morse codeD. Arabic lettering

Better: A communication system for the blind that includes raised dots that are arranged to represent letters of the alphabet is called:A. Arabic lettering*B. BrailleC. Morse codeD. Sign language

Every organization is different and not all processes/steps need to necessarily be followed. Two things to consider when developing new items are that it is a very expensive process and it is difficult to find qualified editors.

Security is always an issue when developing new questions. The following security tips should be considered:· Limit access to questions to only specified developers/reviewers· Limit the paper trail and do work electronically· Have everyone sign a privacy and confidentiality agreement· Follow a defined workflow process

I know this is a huge post, but I hope it will be a resource for you when developing your own test questions! J.T.

Sunday, February 15, 2009

In honor of President's Day, did you know that the Library of Congress is now on Flickr? The Library of Congress has also made digitized versions of collection materials available on their website since 1994, concentrating on its most rare collections and those unavailable anywhere else. This is your gateway to a growing treasury of digitized photographs, manuscripts, maps, sound recordings, motion pictures, and books, as well as "born digital" materials such as Web sites. In addition, the Library maintains and promotes the use of digital library standards and provides online research and reference services.

The Library provides one of the largest bodies of noncommercial high-quality content on the Internet. By providing these materials online, those who may never come to Washington can gain access to the treasures of the nation’s library. Such online access also helps preserve rare materials that may be too fragile to handle.

Thursday, February 12, 2009

Moodle is an Open Source Course Management System (CMS), also known as a Learning Management System (LMS) or a Virtual Learning Environment (VLE). It has become very popular among educators around the world as a tool for creating online dynamic web sites for their students. To work, it needs to be installed on a web server somewhere, either on one of your own computers or one at a web hosting company.

The focus of the Moodle project is always on giving educators the best tools to manage and promote learning, but there are many ways to use Moodle:

Moodle has features that allow it to scale to very large deployments and hundreds of thousands of students, yet it can also be used at much smaller sites, such as an elementary school.

Many institutions use it as their platform to conduct fully online courses, while some use it simply to augment face-to-face courses (known as blended learning).

Many users like to use the many activity modules (such as Forums, Wikis, Databases and so on) to build richly collaborative communities of learning around their subject matter (in the social constructionist tradition), while others prefer to use Moodle as a way to deliver content to students (such as standard SCORM packages) and assess learning using assignments or quizzes.

Just in case you are curious, Moodle is an acronym for "Modular Object-Oriented Dynamic Learning Environment." Originally the M stood for "Martin's", named after Martin Dougiamas, the original developer. J.T.

Monday, February 9, 2009

(From KidsHealth.org)You've participated in class, done all of your homework, studied hard, and you think you have a grip on the material. But then the day of the test comes. Suddenly, you blank out, freeze up, zone out, or feel so nervous that you can't get it together to respond to those questions you knew the answers to just last night.

If this sounds like you, you may have a case of test anxiety - that nervous feeling that people sometimes get when they're about to take a test.

It's pretty normal to feel a little nervous and stressed before a test. Just about everyone does. And a touch of nervous anticipation can actually help you get revved and keep you at peak performance while you're taking the test. But for some people, this normal anxiety is more intense. The nervousness they feel before a test can be so strong that it interferes with their concentration or performance.

What Is Test Anxiety?Test anxiety is actually a type of performance anxiety - a feeling someone might have in a situation where performance really counts or when the pressure's on to do well. For example, a person might experience performance anxiety when he or she is about to try out for the school play, sing a solo on stage, get into position at the pitcher's mound, step onto the platform in a diving meet, or go into an important interview.

Like other situations in which a person might feel performance anxiety, test anxiety can bring on "butterflies," a stomachache, or a tension headache. Some people might feel shaky, sweaty, or feel their heart beating quickly as they wait for the test to be given out. A student with really strong test anxiety may even feel like he or she might pass out or throw up.

Test anxiety is not the same as doing poorly on a certain test because your mind is on something else. Most people know that having other things on their minds - such as a breakup or the death of someone close - can also interfere with their concentration and prevent them from doing their best on a test.

What Causes It?All anxiety is a reaction to anticipating something stressful. Like other anxiety reactions, test anxiety affects the body and the mind. When you're under stress, your body releases the hormone adrenaline, which prepares it for danger (you may hear this referred to as the "fight or flight" reaction). That's what causes the physical symptoms, such as sweating, a pounding heart, and rapid breathing. These sensations might be mild or intense.

Focusing on the bad things that could happen also fuels test anxiety. For example, someone worrying about doing poorly might think thoughts like, "What if I forget everything I know?" or "What if the test is too hard?" Too many thoughts like these leave no mental space for thinking about the test questions. People with test anxiety can also feel stressed out by their physical reaction and think things like "What if I throw up?" or "Oh no, my hands are shaking."

Just like other types of anxiety, test anxiety can create a vicious circle: The more a person focuses on the bad things that could happen, the stronger the feeling of anxiety becomes. This makes the person feel worse and, because his or her head is full of distracting thoughts and fears, it can increase the possibility that the person will do worse on the test.

Who's Likely to Have Test Anxiety?People who worry a lot or who are perfectionists are more likely to have trouble with test anxiety. People with these traits sometimes find it hard to accept mistakes they might make or to get anything less than a perfect score. In this way, even without meaning to, they might really pressure themselves. Test anxiety is bound to thrive in a situation like this.

Students who aren't prepared for tests but who care about doing well are also likely to experience test anxiety. If you know you're not prepared, it's a no-brainer to realize that you'll be worried about doing poorly. People can feel unprepared for tests for several reasons: They may not have studied enough, they may find the material difficult, or perhaps they feel tired because didn't get enough sleep the night before.

What Can You Do?Test anxiety can be a real problem when someone is so stressed out over a test that he or she can't get past the nervousness to focus on the test questions and do his or her best work. Feeling ready to meet the challenge, though, can keep test anxiety at a manageable level.

Use a little stress to your advantage. Stress is your body's warning mechanism - it's a signal that helps you prepare for something important that's about to happen. So use it to your advantage. Instead of reacting to the stress by dreading, complaining, or fretting about the test with friends, take an active approach. Let stress remind you to study well in advance of a test. Chances are, you'll keep your stress from spinning out of control. After all, nobody ever feels stressed out by thoughts that they might do well on a test.

Ask for help. Although a little test anxiety can be a good thing, an overdose of it is another story entirely. If sitting for a test gets you so stressed out that your mind goes blank and causes you to miss answers that you know, then your level of test anxiety probably needs some attention. Your teacher, your school guidance counselor, or a tutor can be useful resources to talk to if you always get extreme test anxiety.

Be prepared. Some students think that going to class is all it should take to learn and do well on tests. But there's much more to learning than just hoping to soak everything up in class. That's why good study habits and skills are so important - and why no amount of cramming or studying the night before a test can take the place of the deeper level of learning that happens over time with regular study.

Many students find that their test anxiety is reduced when they start to study better or more regularly. It makes sense - the more you know the material, the more confident you'll feel. Having confidence going into a test means you expect to do well. When you expect to do well, you'll be able to relax into a test after the normal first-moment jitters pass.

Watch what you're thinking. If expecting to do well on a test can help you relax, what about when people expect they won't do well? Watch out for any negative messages you might be sending yourself about the test. They can contribute to your anxiety.

If you find yourself thinking negative thoughts ("I'm never any good at taking tests," or "It's going to be terrible if I do badly on this test"), replace them with positive messages. Not unrealistic positive messages, of course, but ones that are practical and true, such as "I've studied hard and I know the material, so I'm ready to do the best I can." (Of course, if you haven't studied, this message won't help!)

Accept mistakes. Another thing you can do is to learn to keep mistakes in perspective - especially if you're a perfectionist or you tend to be hard on yourself. Everyone makes mistakes, and you may have even heard teachers or coaches refer to mistakes as "learning opportunities." Learning to tolerate small failures and mistakes - like that one problem you got wrong in the math pop quiz - is a valuable skill.

Take care of yourself. It can help to learn ways to calm yourself down and get centered when you're tense or anxious. For some people, this might mean learning a simple breathing exercise. Practicing breathing exercises regularly (when you're not stressed out) helps your body see these exercises as a signal to relax.

And, of course, taking care of your health - such as getting enough sleep, exercise, and healthy eats before a test - can help keep your mind working at its best.

Everything takes time and practice, and learning to beat test anxiety is no different. Although it won't go away overnight, facing and dealing with test anxiety will help you learn stress management, which can prove to be a valuable skill in many situations besides taking tests.

The testing season will be starting soon and I thought this might be a good resource for your students. Please visit KidsHealth.org for more information on test anxiety and test taking tips! J.T.

Thursday, February 5, 2009

I'm not saying that I will be sending you the winning lottery numbers or that an armored car full of cash is headed your way, but... I hope I made you look! (On average, 8 out of 10 people will read headline copy, but only 2 out of 10 will read the rest). Now I know that none of us that read this blog are truly lazy, but everyone likes to save time and effort. And, as they say, time is money!

I was balancing my checkbook last night and I had a sudden realization. Subscriptions generally cost money. Think about that for a second. It’s jarring, especially if you’ve spent the past few years or even your entire adult life paying those incessant subscription fees to all kinds of things.

What Does It Mean to Subscribe?

Here are the definitions of “subscribe” from two online dictionaries.Dictionary.com: “to pledge, as by signing an agreement, to give or pay (a sum of money) as contribution, gift, or investment.”Merriam-Webster.com: “to write (one’s name) underneath.”

The CareerTech Testing Center Blog is definitely not your stereotypical subscription service since we cost nothing more than a few seconds of your time to enter your email address. That's the key to getting valuable content delivered directly to you via email or RSS. That's right, we are FREE and that word is one of my favorites. Just ask anyone that knows me.

Honestly, it just takes a couple of seconds and I hope you will forward the blog to any instructors, at any level, administrators, or students that will benefit from the content. Also, we want you to be a part of the blog. Send us anything that would make a great post. Communication and the sharing of ideas are the real reasons why we started the blog in the first place.

For those of you that subscribe by email, make sure you periodically search the archives/labels and see what you might have missed or remind yourself about some of the great information that we have found for you.

We have several more surprises that we will debuting in the coming months and I will make a post in the near future detailing locations around the country where you can meet us and see what the CareerTech Testing Center is all about and what we have to offer!

Wednesday, February 4, 2009

If you’re looking for interactive safety training resources that complement OSHA training, check out the PC-compatible, 12 CD-ROM safety training set offered by MAVCC (a multi-state curriculum consortium). Feedback from instructors has been very positive. Instructors particularly like the video capability to show segments as mini lessons; screen quizzes covering video segments to check student comprehension; and end-of-video assessments that are taken online and automatically scored for immediate feedback. The assessment scores are tracked and can be printed or imported into the instructor’s database. These CDs can either be purchased as a set or individually to accommodate the occupational area and are designed for either group or self-paced instruction.

CareerTech Testing has also made it easy for schools to test students over each safety program by obtaining a site license. For $150/program per year, a school can have unlimited access to online tests. Contact our customer service department at 800.654.4502 to order your site license.

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